The head of the Treasury specified that the CAE had an annual cost of US$100 million for the State, reaching a total of US$1,000 million.
Mario Marcel, Minister of Finance, explained the scope of the End the CAE bill, which establishes a new Financing System for Higher Education (FES), in addition to reorganizing the obligations of those who owe the State Guaranteed Credit (CAE), the University Credit Solidarity Fund (FSCU) and the so-called Corfo credits.
The head of the Treasury stressed that “specifically, this is a proposal that does not cost more than what there is currently and what the current system would have cost in the future. Many times in the public discussion there are those who intervene assuming that the CAE was free for the State, that it did not cost it anything. Nothing more wrong. The CAE currently costs, in resources that are above the line, more than US$100 million each year; and that close to US$900 million are under the line. That is, US$1,000 million added every year.”
The new system, Marcel pointed out, “is not a credit as one usually understands it, in which there is a loan, a capital, an interest rate, but what there is It is a revolving fund where students obtain financing to pay for their studies and then repay them by contributing a proportion of their income once they graduate, graduate and during the following years. So this is a system in which resources will circulate from those who have already graduated, who already have higher incomes, to those who require financing to cover their studies. That is the essence of what is contained in this reform.”
New Financing for Higher Education (FES)
Students who join the FES will begin to pay one year after graduating or interrupting their studies, and already inserted in the labor market. This remuneration will depend on income and will be calculated as a percentage of salary, it will be up to 8%. establishing an exempt section of $500,000 pesos per month.
The remuneration will be made in this way:
- People who receive an average income of less than 7.5 UTA (approximately $500,000 pesos per month) will be released from paying (exempt).
- Those with income equal to or greater than 7.5 UTA (approximately $500,000 per month) will be paid according to progressive and income-contingent sections.
- Regardless of the result of the remuneration calculation, it may not exceed 8% of the declared income.
The remuneration of these resources will be made for a period equivalent to two years per semester completed.. That is, if a student completed two years, which corresponds to four semesters, they will pay for eight years. If a degree lasts five years, equivalent to ten semesters, the remuneration will last 20 years.
The State will transfer to higher education institutions the amount resulting from multiplying the regulated values of fees and enrollment, for the students who are beneficiaries of the FES, while higher education institutions will not be able to make additional charges to students, except for those who are in the tenth income decile (10% with the most resources).